WHEN Darren Hodges looks at his wife Catherine, he knows he owes her his life.

It was thanks to Catherine’s quick thinking a year ago that Darren got the medical attention he needed for a stroke, attention that made the difference between him spending the rest of his life incapacitated or living with the minor effects he has now.

The former pub landlord from Newbridge was just 40 when he suffered a mini-stroke.

“It didn’t really affect me, I didn’t take much notice of it,” he says. “I had high blood pressure which didn’t help my health, but I didn’t take my tablets, and I was a big boy.”

Now 42, the father-of-four admits that his high blood pressure and weight made him a prime candidate for a stroke, but it wasn’t until he was out with Catherine last July that he realised just how bad his health was.

“We were shopping and I felt a bit ill. I was driving, but we managed to get home and I sat in the chair until I felt better,” he said.

On trying to stand up, Darren fell back and can’t remember anything else, but Catherine’s recollection is clear.

“Darren’s colour drained and he fell back into the chair, I knew there was something definitely wrong.

“I didn’t think it was a stroke to begin with, because he didn’t have all the symptoms that you associate with a stroke. He just had numbness of the arm and leg. He was talking to me and his face didn’t change,” she recalled.

Scared, Catherine called her GP, who immediately advised her to call 999.

“He seemed quite lethargic and his colour had drained but he just said he didn’t feel very well.

“The rapid response unit came first and did everything they had to do and the ambulance followed shortly after. I was on autopilot.”

Catherine went with Darren to hospital, and it was there a major stroke hit.

She said: “I saw him just after and there wasn’t much response at all. He couldn’t move his arm or leg, and I don’t think he realised what was happening.”

Darren was soon to benefit from a treatment called thrombolysis, using a clot-busting drug.

He explained: “If you get to the hospital within three hours, they can give you this injection.”

Darren was the youngest person to receive the life-saving treatment at Royal Gwent Hospital and within hours he was visibly better.

“It was such a difference,” Catherine said. “Within hours he could start moving his arm and his leg, only slight movements to start with, but every 15 minutes they were getting stronger.”

Darren was out of hospital in three days.

“I have some lasting damage but nothing that I can’t handle,” Darren said. “Catherine really took care of me when I came home, and she still does today. I’m a very lucky person.”